Alice Coleman
Encyclopedia
Alice Mary Coleman is emeritus professor of geography at King's College London
. She is noted for directing the 1960s Second Land Use Survey of Britain and for analyses of land use planning
and urban design taken up by the political right.
and an MA from University College London
.
, eventually becoming professor in 1987 after other posts in Canada and Japan. She retired in 1996 and is now emeritus professor.
survey of the 1930s. Around 120 sheets each covering 200 km2 were published.
. The unit studied indications of 'social malaise' (litter, vandalism, graffiti etc.) on post-war social housing developments in the inner London
boroughs of Southwark
and Tower Hamlets
(visiting all 4,050 multi-storey blocks in these boroughs), and the Blackbird Leys
estate in Oxford
. These measures were correlated with various design features such as number of storeys, number of flats in a block etc.
The findings published as Utopia on trial (Coleman 1985) were controversial, with Newman suggesting that insufficient attention was paid to social factors interacting with the physical. Bill Hillier of the Bartlett School of Architecture argued that many of Coleman's findings on the link between large scale housing and social problems were a statistical artefact: simply put, large blocks have more litter than small because they are larger. Nevertheless in 1991 the government provided £50 million to test the ideas in selected estates under Coleman's direction under the DICE (Design Improvement Controlled Experiment) project (see Coleman 1992). A significant proposal was the removal of overhead walkways linking blocks to reduce opportunities for crime, though the overall effectiveness of DICE, and the general effectiveness of physical design methods over social and economic measures remains controversial.
has included editing and contributing to Graphology magazine and writing a graphological thesaurus.
. As a teacher in secondary modern schools in the 1940s prior to her career at King's College London
, Coleman claims to have encountered only one pupil in 1200 unable to read. By comparison today perhaps 30 of these would be in special schools for the learning disabled and a further 300 illiterate.
presented Coleman with the Gill Memorial Award (1963) and Busk Award (1987).
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. She is noted for directing the 1960s Second Land Use Survey of Britain and for analyses of land use planning
Land use planning
Land-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
and urban design taken up by the political right.
Education
After qualifying as a teacher Coleman studied for a BA at Birkbeck CollegeBirkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
and an MA from University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Academic career
After working as a secondary school teacher Coleman became a lecturer at the geography department of King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, eventually becoming professor in 1987 after other posts in Canada and Japan. She retired in 1996 and is now emeritus professor.
Land Use Survey
In the 1960s Coleman took on the role of director of the Second Land Use Survey of Britain. This was the first comprehensive attempt to map the use of land since Dudley Stamp'sLaurence Dudley Stamp
Sir Dudley Stamp, CBE, DSc, D. Litt, LLD, Ekon D, DSc Nat , was professor of geography at Rangoon and London, and one of the internationally best known British geographers of the 20th century....
survey of the 1930s. Around 120 sheets each covering 200 km2 were published.
Land use planning
Coleman's findings on the Land Use Survey led to an attack on the effectiveness of the planning system within the UK, which she considered responsible for much degraded land in the rural/urban fringe (Coleman 1976).Urban design
As head of the Land Use Research Unit at King's in the 1980s, Coleman built on the work of architect Oscar Newman on the concept of defensible spaceDefensible space
Defensible space may refer to:*Defensible space , a concept of influencing negative social behavior through architectural and urban design....
. The unit studied indications of 'social malaise' (litter, vandalism, graffiti etc.) on post-war social housing developments in the inner London
Inner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...
boroughs of Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
and Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
(visiting all 4,050 multi-storey blocks in these boroughs), and the Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census, the ward had a population of 5,803. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish...
estate in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. These measures were correlated with various design features such as number of storeys, number of flats in a block etc.
The findings published as Utopia on trial (Coleman 1985) were controversial, with Newman suggesting that insufficient attention was paid to social factors interacting with the physical. Bill Hillier of the Bartlett School of Architecture argued that many of Coleman's findings on the link between large scale housing and social problems were a statistical artefact: simply put, large blocks have more litter than small because they are larger. Nevertheless in 1991 the government provided £50 million to test the ideas in selected estates under Coleman's direction under the DICE (Design Improvement Controlled Experiment) project (see Coleman 1992). A significant proposal was the removal of overhead walkways linking blocks to reduce opportunities for crime, though the overall effectiveness of DICE, and the general effectiveness of physical design methods over social and economic measures remains controversial.
Graphology
Coleman's interest in graphologyGraphology
Graphology is the pseudoscientific study and analysis of handwriting, especially in relation to human psychology. In the medical field, it can be used to refer to the study of handwriting as an aid in diagnosis and tracking of diseases of the brain and nervous system...
has included editing and contributing to Graphology magazine and writing a graphological thesaurus.
Literacy
Coleman's most recent publication (Coleman & McKnee 2007) is on the teaching of reading in primary schools, promoting the use of phonicsPhonics
Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations...
. As a teacher in secondary modern schools in the 1940s prior to her career at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, Coleman claims to have encountered only one pupil in 1200 unable to read. By comparison today perhaps 30 of these would be in special schools for the learning disabled and a further 300 illiterate.
Selected bibliography
- Coleman, A & Maggs, K.R.A (1965), Land Use Survey Handbook, fourth (Scottish) Edition, Isle of Thanet Geographical Association
- Coleman, A.M & Lukehurst, C.T. (1967), British landscapes through maps, 10: East Kent: a description of the Ordnance Survey Seventh Edition One-Inch sheet 173. Geographical Association, ISBN 0-900395-22-2 (paperback ed)
- Coleman, A.M & Lukehurst, C.T. (1974), Field Studies for Schools, Rivingtons, ISBN 0-280-22910-0.
- Coleman, A.M & Shaw, J.E. (1980), Field Mapping Manual, London: King's College, ISBN
- Coleman, A.M. (1985), Utopia on trial: Vision and reality in planned housing. London: Hilary Shipman
- Coleman, A, The Social consequences of Housing Design, ch. 7 of Robson, B (Ed), Managing the city: The Aims and Impacts of Urban Policy, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0-389-20731-4
- Coleman, A., Coleman, D., Beresford, P. Melville-Ross, T. et al. (1988), Altered estates. London: Adam Smith Institute, 1988.
- Coleman, A. (1992a), 'The Dice Project', in 'High rise housing', special issue of Housing and Town Planning Review, London: National Housing and Town Planning Council
- Coleman, A., England, E., Latymer, Y. and Shaw, J.E. (1992), Scapes and Fringes 1:400,000 Environmental Territories of England and Wales, London: Second Land Utilisation Survey (2 maps and booklet)
- Coleman, Alice & McKnee, Mona (2007), The Great Reading Disaster: Reclaiming Our Educational Birthright, Exeter and Charlottesville VA: Imprint Academic, ISBN 978-1-84540-097-2
Awards
The Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
presented Coleman with the Gill Memorial Award (1963) and Busk Award (1987).